Midnight Paws

by Jessica Beck

  I looked around the shop. “What on earth do we have that might be of interest to you?” I asked.

  “You’d be surprised,” was all that she’d say. “I need to take a few measurements and then head back to my shop. You’re not going anywhere anytime soon, are you?”

  “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be right here,” I said.

  “Good. I’ll see you soon.”

  Emily ducked out the back and I relocked the door as best I could. I doubted that it would keep an earnest field mouse out, but I didn’t believe that whoever had broken in would try to come back during regular business hours. Just in case, though, I promised myself to keep my eyes open for something, anything, that didn’t feel right.

  An older man I’d seen in the shop a few times before came in through the front door and looked around. I was bent over near the register rearranging a display of costume jewelry and out of sight. “Welcome back,” I said.

  He looked confused as he glanced around the open space. “Hello? Where are you? I can’t see you.”

  “That’s because I was hiding,” I said with a slight smile.

  He looked surprised by my answer. “Really? Why on earth would you want to do that? Where’s the proprietor of this establishment?”

  “You’re looking at her,” I said. It was evident that this man hadn’t had a sense of whimsy for years.

  “No, I’m talking about the older woman who helped me the last time I was here. It was just last week. Surely you haven’t been in charge all that long.”

  “I’m afraid that Cora is no longer running Memories and Dreams. Was there something that I could help you with?”

  “I can’t imagine why she would be dismissed. She was a perfectly lovely woman, and she was extremely helpful every time I came in.”

  This wasn’t going to be easy, but I couldn’t tap-dance around the issue much longer. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but I’m afraid that she passed away suddenly last week,” I said simply.

  That took him aback. “I’m so sorry. It must have been sudden. I wasn’t even aware of the fact that she was ill.”

  “She wasn’t,” I said. “Someone broke into the shop and killed her. They killed my cat, too.” I could have been a little more delicate about it, but I’d already tried that route.

  “I beg your forgiveness,” he said, clearly upset by the news. “This must be a trying time for you.”

  I never should have been so blunt with him. What had I been thinking? “I’m the one who should be apologizing. To be honest with you, I’m still coming to grips with it myself. It was tragic, but we all have to move on sometime, don’t we? Now, was there something in particular that I could help you with?”

  “She showed me an array of handcrafted wooden boxes the last time I was here, and I had trouble making up my mind which one I wanted, but I’ve decided now, and I’ve come back for it.”

  We had an assortment of boxes, wooden and otherwise, and since Cora had been killed, only one was missing now, and it was in my jacket pocket. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be the one that had caught his eye. “They’re in the case over there, if you’ll just follow me,” I said.

  I approached the case and opened it with the special key that fit the cylindrical lock. “Which one would you like to see?”

  He leaned over the case, his finger poised to point, when he frowned slightly. “It’s not there.”

  “Could you tell me a little about what it looked like?” I asked, knowing too well which box he was about to describe to me.

  Of course, he described my box to a T.

  “Sorry, but it’s no longer for sale,” I said.

  “But how can that be? It was priced too high for the common collector, and Cora assured me that in all likelihood, it would be here when I returned.”

  “I’m sure she was sincere, but you never know, do you? We have some other choices that are quite lovely.”

  The man frowned. “But I wanted that one in particular. This might be unusual, but could you tell me who might have purchased it? I’d be willing to pay them more than they gave your former employer for it.”

  “Sorry, but our records are confidential,” I said, which in part was true. I knew full well where that box was, but no amount of money would pry it out of my hands after Midnight had directed me to choose it.

  “That’s unfortunate,” he said as he pulled a slim wallet out of his coat pocket. Removing a business card, he slid it across the counter to me as he said, “If the new owner returns, please have them get in touch with me. I’d be willing to make it worth their while.”

  I dutifully took the card, and then I glanced at the name embossed on it. “Professor Jenkins, may I ask you why you didn’t buy it before, if you’re willing to pay more than it’s worth now?”

  “I had to get approval from my wife,” he said sheepishly. “She indulges me in my habit of collecting Americana, and that box was a perfect example of primitive artistry.”

  So, perhaps Midnight had better taste than I did, but I had a hunch that my ghost cat hadn’t been interested in that box for any reason other than the messages I’d found there.

  “I just had another thought,” he said. “If you would be so kind as to get in touch with the buyer and make my proposal for me, I would be most generous in my thanks. We could call it a brokerage fee, or whatever you’d like, and it would be in cash. I simply must have that box, no matter what it costs.”

  “I’m not sure that I can help you, but I’ll do my best,” I said.

  The professor nodded, and then he left the shop. How odd. I started to wonder if perhaps I’d been too rash turning him away. After all, once I got the two messages from it, or specifically, one message and one poem, what was the box worth to me? But how could I be certain that I’d found all of the significance that Midnight had seen in it? No, it was better to pass up a big sale than to lose something that meant so much to my ghost cat that it had caused him to come back from wherever cats went once they were gone.

  All in all, it was an odd exchange, but then again, working at Memories and Dreams, more of our interactions with customers were more unusual than most other secondhand stores likely ever encountered.

  It was nice to see a friendly face the next time someone walked through my door. “Hey, Trudy. How are you?”

  “If I were any happier, they’d be tempted to arrest me,” the librarian said with a broad smile, and then checked it down immediately. “I apologize, Christy. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “Please, don’t apologize for being yourself. It’s nice to see someone who isn’t tiptoeing around me as though I might shatter at the wrong word.” Trudy Jefferson was our town’s librarian, number one researcher, and a collector of scarves of all types and kinds. “We just got the coolest scarf in last week,” I said. “I put it aside for you so you could have the first look at it.”

  “That’s wonderful,” she said as I brought it out from under the counter and handed it over. It was piece of material so fine and delicate that it hardly had any weight in my hand. The colors were translucent and undulating, and it looked as though it would be something that my friend would covet if she saw someone wearing it on the street. Trudy studied it carefully, clearly liking what she saw, and then she draped it over her head and stroked it lightly.

  “It’s absolutely exquisite,” she said. “How much are you asking for it?”

  “Just this once, I’ll let it go for what we paid for it, since you’re such a good customer,” I said.

  “Nonsense. I’ll pay full retail, and be happy for the opportunity to do it.”

  I smiled at her response, and then I quoted her the price Cora and I had agreed on when it had come in. I would miss that back and forth that my boss and I had when we priced items. I’d been wildly random when Cora had first started training me, but la
tely our prices matched within pennies, something that I took a great deal of pride in.

  “It’s worth every cent,” she said as she paid me.

  “Would you like a bag for it?” I asked as I handed her change to her.

  “I believe I’ll wear it out of the shop,” she said. “How does it look?”

  “Smashing,” I said with a smile. Trudy was one of the reasons I’d grown to love working at Memories and Dreams, and she’d chosen the perfect time to come in today. I’d needed her smile desperately to remind me why I was doing this.

  “I got your panel,” Emily said as she came back into the shop a little later. “It will fit like a glove. I promise you.”

  “Excellent,” I said.

  Emily frowned for a moment as she looked around. “This still won’t take the place of a security system; you know that, don’t you?”

  “I can’t afford much more than the panel replacement,” I said. “Cora always talked about getting an alarm for the shop, but she never managed to get far enough ahead.”

  “They are more reasonable than you might think,” Emily said. She studied the door in back, as well as the windows up front and that door. “I can rig something up using items available off the shelf. It won’t be too bad.”

  “Hang on,” I said, suddenly unwilling to let the place go unguarded any longer than I had to. “Let me call my financial advisor and see what kind of spending limit I have.”

  “Sure thing,” Emily said, clearly amused by the prospect of me having someone advising me. “Just let me know. Things are slow right now, so I can jump right on it after I fix the door, if you’d like.”

  I called Lincoln’s office, and to my delight, he took my call straightaway. “I thought you’d be harder to get in touch with than that,” I said.

  “Usually I would be, but the judge got sick at the last minute, and everything got postponed. How are things going at the store?”

  “I’m managing,” I said.

  “That’s wonderful news,” he replied.

  “Listen, the reason I’m calling is that I was wondering if I had a budget.”

  “Do you mean money for your own personal use?” he asked. Was that a hint of disappointment in his voice? Somehow, that thought bothered me.

  “It’s for the shop, actually. My handywoman is here, and she says that she can rig up an alarm that won’t cost too much. I feel kind of naked without something here protecting the place, to be honest with you.”

  “If she can keep it under three hundred dollars, I can approve it,” Lincoln said.

  “It’s really going to be that easy?” I asked, a little surprised by how simply the request had been fulfilled.

  “Just don’t get carried away,” Lincoln said. “You have a little room, but the less ammo we give the cousins for any potential court fight, the better off we’ll be.”

  “How can they complain if I’m just trying to protect their assets?” I asked.

  “The assets under your control aren’t theirs yet,” Lincoln reminded me. “You’re in the driver’s seat right now.” I couldn’t even let myself entertain that thought. As a matter of fact, it helped thinking that I was just there to run the place temporarily, not working to earn the lion’s share of it. In my mind, it was as though Cora had stepped out for a long lunch, and she’d be back anytime. I knew deep down that this wasn’t going to happen, but that didn’t keep me from lying to myself that it was a possibility.

  “Thanks,” I said, and then I hung up. Emily was putting the finishing touches on the new door panel, and if I hadn’t known that she’d just replaced the kicked-in panel, I never would have been able to spot it. “That looks great,” I said.

  She wiped a spot of glue off the panel with a wet rag, and then she examined the patch. “It’ll do, if I do say so myself. I’m just about finished here. Have you had a chance to think about an alarm system?”

  “How much money are we talking here?” I asked, not willing to share my budget restrictions with her if I didn’t have to.

  “I can do a nice little system for five hundred bucks,” she said.

  My face fell. “I’m sorry. That’s way over my head. It’ll just have to wait for better days. Thanks for offering, though.”

  “Hang on. We’re just getting started with the negotiation,” Emily said with a grin. “I quoted you the price for a system with cameras at the front and the back, along with remote controls so you could turn everything on and off on the Internet without ever leaving the house.”

  “How about the stripped down version?” I asked.

  “Well, for a hundred and a half, I can wire the doors and windows with a siren that will wake the dead. No cameras, though.”

  “How about splitting the difference? What will three hundred buy me?”

  She thought about it, jotted some numbers down in the same notebook where she’d recorded the dimensions to my door patch, and then said, “I can wire the doors and windows and give you one camera. It won’t cover the entire place, but it will be loads better than not having anything at all. That price includes a digital recorder, too, something we can hide out of sight in case a burglar discovers the camera and tries to remove the evidence. That money will also get you enough signage around the shop that you’ll most likely scare off any but the hardiest thief.”

  I thought about it for two seconds, but there really wasn’t that much to weigh in making the decision. Lincoln had given me the go ahead, and by golly, I was going to go ahead. “How soon can you get started?”

  Emily smiled broadly when she heard the news. “Good for you. I can get started this evening after you close for the day, and I’ll have you operational by midnight.”

  I must have flinched at my cat’s name. Emily frowned, clearly misunderstanding my disapproval. “Would eleven be better? What time do you close, anyway?”

  “Cora kept us open until six, and to be honest with you, I don’t see any reason to change our hours, at least not just yet.”

  “Perfect. I’ll pick up everything I need, grab a quick bite, and then be back here by six p.m. sharp.”

  “Thanks, Emily. I really appreciate your help.”

  “I’m happy to do it,” she said as she gathered her tools and left. She was, as my late father used to say, good people, and I felt deep in my heart that I could trust her. My instincts were rarely wrong when it came to people, and the few times that I’d been disappointed, I hadn’t let it get me down for too long. I was trusting Emily not just to set up an alarm system for me at a fair price, but I was also going to leave her alone in the shop without me. I couldn’t imagine her stealing from me, or from Cora’s estate. But if she did, it would be on her conscience, not mine.

  That was fine, as far as it went, but was it right that I was about to trust her with things that weren’t mine, at least completely? I decided to call Lincoln back to get his approval. I was finding that working in a store and running it were two entirely different things, and I wasn’t all that certain that I was ready, or even interested, in the added responsibilities.

  “Two calls, back to back. I’m honored,” Lincoln said when he picked up.

  “Do you know Emily Nance very well?” I asked him.

  “We went to high school together,” Lincoln admitted. “Why?”

  “She’s going to install my burglar alarm system tonight after hours,” I explained. “Is it okay to trust her here alone in the shop?”

  “I’d trust the woman with my life. Why, did you get a different read on her?”

  “No, I trusted her from the moment we met. I just realized that maybe my opinion wasn’t enough anymore.”

  Lincoln laughed a little, so I asked, “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing. It’s really true that heavy is the head that wears the crown.”

  “Don’t go quoting Shakespeare to me, Counselor, but
if you do, the least you could do is to get it right,” I said with a slight smile. “The quote is, ‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.’”

  “Are you certain about that?”

  “Check me if you’d like. It’s from Henry the Fourth, Part 2.”

  “No, I believe you. You never cease to amaze me, Christy.”

  I had to laugh at that. “I don’t see how. Look at how far I’ve fallen, from dedicated scholar all the way down to common clerk.”

  “You’re much more than that, and there’s nothing about you that’s common,” he said. “But to answer your question, yes, I trust Emily Nance.”

  “That’s good enough for me, then. Thanks, Lincoln.”

  The attorney hesitated, and then he asked timidly, “Do you have any interest in going out to dinner with me tonight? You’ve had a particularly difficult day, and you should celebrate.”

  “It’s sweet of you to offer, but honestly, I just want to go home after I turn the key over to Emily and sleep until it’s time to get up tomorrow.”

  “I understand completely,” he said, though it was pretty clear that I’d hurt his feelings.

  “I’ll take a rain check, though, if you’re offering one. Any other time, dinner out sounds great.”

  “You’ve got it,” he said, noticeably perking up. “Just name the time and the place, and I’ll be there.”

  “Will do,” I said. After we hung up, it suddenly occurred to me that I’d just made a date with Marybeth’s former flame. What had I been thinking? I considered calling him back and canceling, but honestly, we’d left it wide open, and nothing said that I had to cash the rain check that he’d given me. I had too much on my mind at the moment, and too much sadness in my heart, to start dating, so for now, I’d just leave things as they stood.

  Though I had a few other shoppers come into Memories and Dreams in the course of the rest of the day, I didn’t make any major sales, or purchases, either. We bought things from folks who walked in off the street, but most of our items were bought on one of Cora’s buying trips, something she called scavenger hunts. Twice a year, armed with a healthy budget and a panel van, Cora took two weeks off looking for unique items to stock the store. She’d taken me along when I’d first gone to work with her, and the trip had cemented our friendship, even though I’d desperately missed my cats. Sharing a room wherever we stopped, Cora had been so different from her daily work persona—looser, friendlier, and much funnier. Another trip was scheduled for next month, but I wasn’t sure I could do it by myself. It wouldn’t be the same without her, and I wasn’t about to leave Shadow behind, or Midnight either, for that matter. We’d just have to see. I kept hoping to get a glimpse of Midnight as I walked through the store, but he didn’t make another appearance. I wasn’t sure what his manifestations were costing him in energy or whatever ran his existence now, but it couldn’t have been that easy for him.